The Minister of the Economic Affairs Division, Hammad Azhar, discussed Pakistan's progress in Financial Action
The action plan of the Working Group (FATF) during meetings with the Joint Asia-Pacific Group (APG), the regional affiliate of the regulator, the ministry of finance said on Wednesday.

According to a press release, a high-level delegation headed by Azhar attended two days of "face-to-face meetings" with the APG.

"The delegation of Pakistan effectively presented Pakistan's progress in each of the elements of the FATF Action Plan and provided additional information and clarifications to the [APG]", read the statement.

"The minister conveyed the strong commitment of the government to implement international standards against money laundering (AML) / fight against terrorist financing (CFT) and reaffirmed Pakistan's unequivocal commitment to work with the international community in the fight against money laundering, terrorist financing and other finance crimes. "

The APG has 40 recommendations for AML standards and another eight for CFT.

The statement of the Ministry of Finance added that according to FATF procedures, APG will present its report at the FATF Plenary and Working Group meetings scheduled from October 13 to 18 in Paris, France.

Pakistan is currently being monitored at three different but interrelated levels: APG, the United States and the FATF, which would determine the possible exit of the country from the FATF gray list. Given the significant progress in its 10-point action plan on 27 different standards, the authorities hope to secure a couple of months of grace period to fully comply when the country is under the final FATF review in mid-October.

Last month, Prime Minister Imran Khan had established a 12-member FATF National Coordinating Committee to ensure the execution of all FATF-related tasks until December 1. Directed by the minister of economic affairs, the coordination committee is composed of three secretaries, heads of some institutions and three GHQ officials.